New Eden is a strange place. There's something about it, that once it had set it's hooks, I knew that I wasn't going to be going back to any run of the mill online worlds. That was true, with one game coming anywhere close to getting me as into it as EvE did. That game had all the piracy I could want, but sadly was hindered by traditional MMO problems (gear > skill) and money-grabbing micro-transactions that lead to a P2W environment (Trion, I'm looking at you). So after a hiatus from any kind of major gaming (and the changes to Alpha/Omega clones, being able to sell SP and all that), I'm back in the pod and loving it.
I wasn't sure if I was going to be doing much blogging, but you can thank the generosity of Sven Viko VIkolander who gave a generous ISK donation (no, I'm not asking for anything of the sort) and some very kind words, I figured I'll start this up again. I'm also setting things up so that I may be streaming some solo PvP and the like at Twitch.TV/Dischordance though I'm not sure when that may be.
With that all said, on to the fun stuff.
Iges has changed since the last time I've been around here. New faces everywhere. I have some vague recollection of Eve University moving into the area, but they seem to have a few members present next door in Uphallant most of the time. The bigger change is a Russian alliance that has moved into the area, The Socket Was Closed. While a small alliance, most of the time they seem to have 4-10 members online in the area, with a mixture of competent PvP pilots, and some newbros as well. While in past days I spent a lot of my time heading over to the Amoen loop and playing with Unleashed Fury /Forsaken Federation/Malum Exuro, I've been finding plenty to do around home with the new neighbors.
My first run-in with them was a Vexor running a Rogue Drone site, that didn't stand too much of a chance. Later that day there was a Typhoon sitting in a large that I decided to try take an Atron after, not expecting anything (I found out later that this 'phoon is a friend of the Socket crew). He kept sitting there after, but I noticed E-Uni come in and go for him with a Domi and few others, so I came in and took a few shots. I had assumed that this Typhoon was better tanked than he was, so I primaried him even with more E-Uni members on the field than not. This turned out to be a mistake as he melted to the Dominix, and I was forced off field by the Brutix and Hurricane before being able to finish the Dominix kill as well.
The following day, the scrapping continued. I was running a rogue site and had them try to finish my Rupture, but ended up dropping an Executioner that attempted to tackle me instead. They struck back though, when I got caught on a gate and ended up firing on a non-flashy (I'm pretty sure my fate was sealed at this point any which way). At this point they still felt fairly confident running sites in their home system, which resulted in me finding more luck at a Rogue site with an Omen.
Lord Veliar, I'm not sure what he is to their outfit, but he's definitely the pilot that I've had the most trouble with in space. I'm a little rusty on the details of our first meeting now, but it didn't go well. I'm pretty sure that it's also his idea that ended up netting me a newb Harbinger kill as attempted bait. After that go there, he chased my Tornado in his Stratios for a while, and I decided to take the fight.
Warping to a Rogue drone site at range to him, I burned away trying to keep range. Volley after volley of his armor got stripped away by the large guns of my Tornado, but over and over it was repaired. 30K, 20K, 15K, his armor nearly depleted, and he starts aligning out. I realize this too late, and attempt to catch him, approaching and overheating my point but it's too late as his cruiser warps off.
A short while later, we go for round two. Thinking I've got it this time, it's seeming to go the same, armor being blown off, and repaired. Distances slowly decreasing. Unexpectedly he makes his move and overheats, catching me and getting into an orbit. From that point it doesn't take long and the Tornado is back to the Minmatar building pile. Talking to him after, I'm not entirely sure if I was that close on the first time or not, as he admitted to having Asklepian implants as well.
While I've had more run-in with them then that, I think I'll save that for another update.
I'm definitely glad to be out there shooting people again.
Fly Dangerous
'Chord
